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Ford Galaxie Club of America
We welcome all full sized Ford Motor Company products produced between 1959 and 1974 into our club. That includes the following: Full sized Fairlanes through 1962, Sunliners, Starliners, Town Sedans, Town Victoria, 300, Custom, Custom 500, Galaxie, LTD, Galaxie 500, Galaxie 500-XL, LTD, Galaxie 500 LTD, Ranch Wagon, Country Sedan, Country Squire, 7 Litre, XL (did we miss any?) Come on board!
So you just made the decision to buy an antique Ford Galaxie. Or maybe you are considering it, but haven't made the final decision yet. Possibly you own a Galaxie, that has been passed down to you by a relative or that you purchased in really nice condition that you would like to maintain and drive regularly for the fun of it. We hope you do realize that there are many factors to consider: | Can I find parts? Where?How about service? Will someone be able to work on my car if I can't? Who else owns these cars? What are they doing with them? How can I find out more about my car? How do I get in contact with people with the same interest in these cars as me? I just don't want to start a major project blind and spend TWICE as much money on the restoration then I have to. Take for instance, chrome, upholstery, engine remanufactured, suspension parts or upgrades. Why the list is endless. |
Yes, paying for it twice, can happen. And without the club as a resource, it is a GUARANTEE it WILL happen somewhere along the line.
Your membership in the Ford Galaxie Club will save you money!
We have 36+ years of experience dealing with members who have had problems with service providers. So we know who to avoid and who to go to. After all, sometimes it takes a long time to find an elusive part. And when you do, and it needs to be refurbished, do you just want to pick a name out of thin air or use Google to find a service provider that you know nothing about? What if you had just located a pair of 427 "Baldie" valve covers that you had been looking for over a year for and they were very nice and straight but need to be rechromed?
You would have most likely paid over $200-$400 for the pair and now you are just going to send them out blind to somebody you have never dealt with to chrome? All we can say is - GOOD LUCK! There are so many people chroming parts out there that should be painting them that it is a serious and costly problem for us. WE can tell you who to send those expensive hard to find parts to for the best, lifetime warranty job you can get. Where the chrome covers the complete cover and it isn't missing in places you can see.
The following is an actual experience that one of our club members went through: Put yourself in the shoes of this member. You purchase a cloth car cover from one of the vendors that advertises with the club, and you have a problem. The vendor tells you that a particular car cover he has for sale is going to fit your Galaxie. So you spend $125 dollars plus shipping on a nice car cover. When it is delivered you are excited, you quickly open it up and pull it out of the box to put it on since you don't have room for your prized Galaxie in your garage. And you don't want your car to get all messed up in the weather. As you take it out of the box and spread it out, you realize there has to be a hole in it for the antennae. Next you carefully mark the spot for the hole and make it. And guess what? THE COVER DOESN'T FIT! You start using four letter explicits and then get on the phone to the vendor to let them know of your dilemma. Surprisingly enough, (just kidding) they tell you, "well, you put a hole in it so it looks like that cover is yours". BUT little does that vendor know that YOU are a member of the Ford Galaxie Club of America, who they sell THOUSANDS of dollars worth of parts to HUNDREDS of members each year. In frustration you put in a call to the club to check into this benefit that you have read about. You put in a complaint and explain exactly what happened. We step in, call the vendor and tell them that they can't tell you the cover will fit when it doesn't and expect to have you keep the cover because of the hole. They realize their error, refund the $125 to you and you are happy. They just paid a little for advertising by fixing their error. Right?
We can tell you story after story...here is another one:
| "About 4 to 5 years ago I ordered some material to redo an interior for a 1960 Starliner from S.M.S. Interiors. The material came and I wasn't happy with it and sent it back for a refund. Unfortunately the refund never came and a couple of years ago I gave up on seeing my money. Now for "The Rest of the Story". Mark Reynolds, Director of the Ford Galaxie Club of America heard of my dilemma. Mark took the initiative to contact S.M. S. Interiors and tell them of my disappointing experience. He then contacted me and said S.M.S. would be contacting me. "Yeah Sure" I thought. Well miracles do happen, Doug from S.M.S. E-mailed me and asked for an explanation of what happened 4/5 years ago. I told him what happened and he agreed to refund my $225.00 in full to clear the air. I was thrilled and asked him to instead send me a letter giving me a $225.00 credit to use for future purchases instead of the cash. Recently the letter arrived issuing a $225.00 credit. S.M.S. didn't have to do this but choose to do it based solely on my word. This would have never been possible without club Director Mark Reynolds
input. IT PAYS TO BE A MEMBER OF THE Ford Galaxie Club of America. It paid so well that I have decided to become a Life Member.
Thanks again to Mark and the F.G.C.o.A. And a special thank you to Doug at S.M.S. Interiors for being an honest and fair business person."
Dennis S. Lempicki |
Unfortunately for everyone in the club, Dennis passed away a few years ago. He was a great member and many of us had some wonderful times and memories that we can share with one another of our times with Dennis. Yes, the Ford Galaxie Club of America becomes a big FAMILY for you and your Galaxie. We share our passion for these cars with one another.
Our club has 6 active chapters located around the country. (Click HERE to see a list of our chapters.) As a member of a chapter you can get together with fellow Galaxie lovers many times a year. It is fun to go to shows as a group. Plus you can have picnics, do fund raisers for charities or just hang out at the local soda shop together. It is a blast for 10-20 Galaxies to all drive into a restaurant parking lot together. It is like putting on a mini-car show. We all know what it is like to drive an antique around and the comments and compliments we get doing so. That is one of the reasons we restore these cars for in the first place!
The Ford Galaxie Club has owners, lovers and enthusiasts, from around the world that are members of our club. And when I say around the world, I mean around the world. Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, Neatherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Turkey, Iceland (yes, ICELAND!), Brazil, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Finland, Denmark, France, Italy, United Arab Emerites, Malaysia, West Indies, and Japan at this time. You become a member of an ELITE club with great members from all over the WORLD! (HI KRISTOFFER! Kristoffer is from Sweden and owns a very nice 1970 Galaxie convertible that takes up the whole road where he drives it. He stopped by to say hi when he and his father were visiting here in the states one afternoon.)
Our club is now entering the 40th year since it was founded in 1983 by Bill Barber from, Bremerton, Washington. Bill passed away in September of 2003 and we will always miss him. When Bill left the leadership of the club behind he had established a base of 539 active members after 13 years. Since then the club has grown to a base of close to 12,000+ members. Granted, that currently we don't have 12,000 ACTIVE members, but we sure would like to have that many!
This Ford Galaxie Club of America web site offers links to hard to find parts for your Galaxie, model years from 1959 to 1974. Even items such as a new OEM windshield for your correct model year, sourced through vintage auto glass suppliers such as SunTec Auto Glass of Scottsdale or Sanders Reproduction Glass which in the past have been difficult to locate. We also encourage 1959 thru 1961 full sized Fairlanes to also join our effort. There is a navigation page to cruise this classic car club with lots of special features: a large photo gallery of almost every year and model Galaxie imaginable plus many links to other Galaxie related sites, technical information, passionate stories, esthetic art and much more ...
Do you still need some more reasons to join?
Here are a number of reasons why you need to be a member of our club!
We have a bi monthly magazine dedicated to GALAXIES and GALAXIES ONLY, including vendor advertising for Galaxie related services and parts. You, the member can have free advertising up to 3 times per year, of 50 words or less. And you can have free advertising with 5 pictures of a car you may be selling, once per year on the club web site. The rates after the three free ads are very affordable in case you happen to be a member who has a side business selling parts to Galaxies.
(If you were to take out a 50 word ad three times a year in Hemmings, the cost would be well over $85.00. Our ads reach Galaxie owners and people interested in Galaxies only. Hemmings reaches many folks who could care less about Galaxies. Not a bad price just for advertising at $50 per year!)
Access to tech advisors who can save you many hours of time and lots of headaches. And keep you from spending hundreds of dollars extra while restoring or repairing your Galaxie.
Access to parts that are sold by club members to club members for prices that are realistic. | Here are a couple of instances: I saw a COMPLETE NOS 1964 accessory trim moulding set go up for sale through the club classifieds for $200. About three months later I was at Carlisle all Ford Nationals in Pennsylvania where I watched a man who had a 1964 Galaxie 500-XL with every trim option you could imagine, EXCEPT that trim moulding set, purchase one for $1000 from a vendor at the meet. A year earlier I had met the same man and he told me, "he wasn't a club guy". Well, by not being a "club guy" he ended up spending $800 more for the trim that he purchased at Carlisle.
Another instance that comes to mind is the prices on E-bay for Galaxie parts. I don't mind selling parts on E-bay and do so quite often. One of the parts I sell is refurbished vent window regulators for 1963 and 1964 Galaxies. If you are a member of the club, an article has been written explaining in detail how to fix those parts simply for the cost of two screws by YOU in a half hour or less. Typically one of those drivers side regulators sells for $60 and the passenger side for $40.
What about looking in Hemmings News for a part? Yes, I know of a member who found a 1967 Galaxie clock he was looking for in Hemmings. The yard it was at would sell it to him for $50+ shipping. The PROBLEM was that in 1967 Ford had two different companies making clocks. Borg and General Time. The Borg clock can be refurbished with a quartz kit and run like new for many years. The General Time unit is useful for garbage fill. The vendor said, even though it only takes 5 minutes to remove one of these, that they didn't care which one it was, if they took it out you were getting it. How hard are they to tell apart? The Borg one says BORG on the back and the General Time says GT. The member saw an ad in the member classifieds from a member parting out a 1967 LTD. Chances were pretty good it had a clock. So the member called and sure enough. He asked his fellow member if he would mind taking it out and checking if it said BORG or GT. He agreed, and sold our member the clock for TEN BUCKS INCLUDING SHIPPING.
Then there was the story of the guy who wanted to get rid of a project started by his father that was cluttering up the garage. Dad had passed on and left a 1964 Galaxie 500-XL Convertible in pieces in the garage. This guy said GET IT OUR OF HERE and one of our members was able to haul off a car that was according to him worth $4,000 just as it sat. It even had a good back bumper! ('64 guys know about that problem.) |
Discounts from an number of the vendors that advertise. | (Master Power Brakes offers a 10% discount to current members. On a complete system the savings is over $100) |
Access to the members only section of our web site which offers past issues on the magazine as well as other features. One of those features is a section dedicated to restoration and maintenance called "Resto-Tips" written by Greg Donahue and having over 158 questions and answers about restoration and up keep. (click HERE for a couple of samples of what I am talking about.) These questions and answers can save you HUNDREDS of dollars in repair costs if you were to make a mistake in the process of repairing or restoring your car. Greg has been a member of our club for many years and is the author of the book "How To Restore Your Musclecar". So the information and advice he gives is worth so much more than the dues you pay it can't be measured.
Access to our on-line E-group to contact other members about problems and to offer services and parts for sale.
Access to arbitration services in case you feel that you have been "wronged" by a vendor.
(One of our members recouped over $100 he had paid for a shift boot that was faulty and when we discussed it with the vendor the money was refunded. At the start the vendor said tough luck. There have been many others, over the years.)
Arbitration service between insurance companies.
| This feature has also been utilized by many members over the years. Many times when an accident happens the party which the accident occurred will have an insurance company that just will not want to believe that the value of your antique Galaxie is more than a few hundred dollars. I cannot count the times that members and even non members have called us because of this problem. With some research and a letter written to explain the market value of their car, I can say that a number of members over the years were able to obtain the true value of their cars at closure. This alone could be considered "cheap" insurance and is, by itself one very good reason to be a member of our club. I know of one case where our letter enabled the accident victim to recover $8500.00 when the original offer was $1200! Which would YOU have preferred? Being a member pretty much guarantees the latter. That is something you need to remember that when it is time to renew.
Many antique insurance companies want you to be a member of a car club if you own an antique automobile. Well, we can be your club. And while speaking about insurance, you have got to read this article posted HERE. |
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Find the help and parts you need through our club for your Galaxie.
As a matter of fact, here is what our Galaxie Club members are saying:
| "...The members of this club could not put all their knowledge of Galaxies in one book. It would take volumes. When a person joins this club, they no longer have to spend $150.00 a year on magazines to get Galaxie information. The on-line help is priceless. Thanks"Don Novak #1350 63½ Galaxie 500 |
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| "...I just wanted to say thanks for all your efforts with the publication. I can't tell how many times it has motivated me and encouraged me to keep going and not give up. A restoration on a 40 plus year old car is a real challenge. Especially when you didn't have the resources or the know how at your fingertips. The technical information, the where to look, how to look, what to look for and what to look out for was simply priceless. Man, I'll tell you-you saved me thousands of dollars and many hours of labor by preventing major screw ups. My membership was an enormous benefit to me. I just can't say enough. Thanks to everyone and I hope to see you at the Nationals. This guy is coming and I'm bringing my two favorite Gals with me. See you there!"
Roy Arnold #5414 63½- Collins, MS |
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| "..special thanks to member Gregg Prokop in Kirkland, WA who sold me a radiator support that was exactly as described. I had bought another (sight unseen) from a salvage yard in Kansas city that was actually in worse shape than the original.
I would strongly suggest that members use the club to find those missing parts that are driving them crazy.
When I finish my project, I plan on listing all the excess parts that I have accumulated in the magazine for free to members that can use them to finish their projects.
Sincerely," Dennis Ponder #1507 63½ - Sikeston, Missouri |
Save! Save! SAVE BIG!
Being able to save $500 dollars on a pair of top cylinders in the current economic climate,
would be ONE MAJOR reason you should join The Ford Galaxie Club of America!
| The dues for our club are less than the national club average and the amount they are wouldn't even fill HALF a gas tank anymore! Just in the past few short years, the club magazine has increased from a 10 page newsletter to our current 40 page magazine, with 24 pages of color. Galaxie pictures galore. It is also filled with information about and suppliers that have parts for your car. You see, with more members we can get top quality reproductions and benefits and yet keep down the cost. One member just recently learned through the club how to rebuild his top cylinders on his convertible for 17 cents a side! That’s right, for the cost of four O rings he was able to save over $500 in rebuilt parts by doing it himself! |
More Member Testimonials
Past Issue Archives
Adobe Acrobat Files of Past Issues
Available in Members Only Section
This site is not related to Ford Motor Company or any of its affiliates.
It is dedicated to owners of the Ford Motor Company products produced between the years
1959 & 1974 known as the model, Galaxie, and all variations there of.
We are a registered association of private owners.
Thank You
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